Republicans are accusing Gov. Jon Corzine of playing election year politics by economic development statistics after a top aide e-mailed cabinet members asking them to demonstrate some creativity by identifying places where the administration created private sector jobs.
"Now we have proof of what we have suspected for a long time — the Corzine Administration is politicizing official State business to distort the true state of the economy to the benefit his campaign," said Assemblyman Jay Webber (R-Morris Plains), the GOP State Chairman.
Webber says that e-mail, written by Corzine Deputy Chief of Staff Mark Matzen, follows "highly suspicious and wildly optimistic job-creation statistics produced in consecutive months by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development." Matzen cited those numbers in his e-mail.
Webber wants Corzine's staff to "cease all political work" and says the governor must disclose correspondence and communications between Matzen and the fourteen department heads who received the e-mail.
"It's very concerning that Governor Corzine appears to be using taxpayer-funded government workers to help assemble campaign-type events for his election," said Bill Stepien, campaign manager for Corzine's Republican opponent, Christopher Christie. "The Governor has some serious questions to answer."
